What is the best blade for beginners?

gen39 · Apr 5, 2014

Hello guys!

I'm just wondering what would be the best blade for someone who wants to improve his/her game?
Thanks a lot!

Tinykin · Apr 5, 2014

A good pre-made from DHS will suffice.

If he then develops a true love for the game and has the resources for coaching etc, then it all depends on the style that the coach wants him to play thereon.

Der_Echte · Apr 5, 2014

The best one is any of them that are not crappy pre-mades. Some, very few, premades are serviceable for a beginner.

Any bat that allows a player to impart speed and spin easier than a crappy premade is not just a step in hte right direction, but a hundred steps that way.

Pundits will argue that the beginner bat MUST be in ALL to OFF- range with thin sponged classic rubbers. Their reasoning is that such slow equipment will make the player learn proper impact and strokes.

In this regard, I flip my middle finger to that advice. The player still has to read the spin, use footwork to get into position, stay on balance, hit the ball, recover, and be ready for the next ball. The PLAYER does all that and without effective coaching, it is damned near impossible to do that sucessfully by oneself.

I have seen complete new players start their TT careers with the fastest blade around, or damned close to it, the Schlager Carbon and deck it with modern rubbers, get coaching, and in two years are above average club level players. With effective coaching and a playing style suited to that kind of equipment, a player can go far in teh amature world.

At the end of the day, my own recommendations are pretty much along the same line as the pundits though. I recommend similar ALL to OFF- wood blades with control rubbers, but in MAX. Why? such an outfit with effective coaching can still be plenty appropriate to learn just about any style of play and do all the shots well enough. Not super great, but well enough, player needs control at that stage. The sponge allows player to learn looping with the same technique needed for modern stuff.

agold · Apr 5, 2014

How about going to colestt? He has 30 usd setups. Also, a YinHe n-9 is a great starting blade for an offensive player, because it is fast-ish but retains a lot of control.

gen39 · Apr 6, 2014

Tinykin said:
A good pre-made from DHS will suffice.

If he then develops a true love for the game and has the resources for coaching etc, then it all depends on the style that the coach wants him to play thereon.

Well, let us just say he/she really loves the game!

gen39 · Apr 6, 2014

Der_Echte said:
The best one is any of them that are not crappy pre-mades. Some, very few, premades are serviceable for a beginner.

Any bat that allows a player to impart speed and spin easier than a crappy premade is not just a step in hte right direction, but a hundred steps that way.

Pundits will argue that the beginner bat MUST be in ALL to OFF- range with thin sponged classic rubbers. Their reasoning is that such slow equipment will make the player learn proper impact and strokes.

In this regard, I flip my middle finger to that advice. The player still has to read the spin, use footwork to get into position, stay on balance, hit the ball, recover, and be ready for the next ball. The PLAYER does all that and without effective coaching, it is damned near impossible to do that sucessfully by oneself.

I have seen complete new players start their TT careers with the fastest blade around, or damned close to it, the Schlager Carbon and deck it with modern rubbers, get coaching, and in two years are above average club level players. With effective coaching and a playing style suited to that kind of equipment, a player can go far in teh amature world.

At the end of the day, my own recommendations are pretty much along the same line as the pundits though. I recommend similar ALL to OFF- wood blades with control rubbers, but in MAX. Why? such an outfit with effective coaching can still be plenty appropriate to learn just about any style of play and do all the shots well enough. Not super great, but well enough, player needs control at that stage. The sponge allows player to learn looping with the same technique needed for modern stuff.

Wow! Thanks Der_Echte, I really like your comments!
Way to go!

I guess BTY Primorac would be a good blade? with double Tenergy 05?

mahomedy13 · Apr 6, 2014

i would recommend a stiga allround classic. A very good blade,perfectly balanced between speed,weight and feel

Der_Echte · Apr 6, 2014

gen39, the newer player with coaching would learn just as well with Aurus, Sriver, H3, 729FX, (even if it is hard sponged, it is still controllable) or XP2008 on both or either side just as well as he would learn with the most expensive rubber on the market. I would lean towards control rubbers more than hard sponged fast as F rubbers at that stage. That is why my eternal recommendations of XP 2008 stand. Gazillions of possibilities. What is important here is that the new player does a few things to get into and STAY in the sport

- find a club where he is welcome

- find a club where there are similar level of players

- find a club with many activities for the newer player (group, r. Robin, social, whatever)

- find a club that has enough tables for anyone to either play a match or train. if there are 3 players waiting on each table to play, then training gets shot out of the water. When a new player plays only matches, he doesn't get a lot to grow on, gets discouraged very easy (hey, this isn't an easy sport, we all don't grow a few levels in 2-3 days) (this is why new players leave the sport. They cannot practice, there is no activities and special attention from manager or members, and they get murdered in matches, see there is no immediate hope, and give up)

- find a club where members and manager can discuss (maybe even sell at cost, or at least help them assemble the bat) bat options and how they affect the shots

- find a club where there is an actual competent coach with a separated area to facilitate multiball/singleball training

- find a club that goes out together to competition, whether that is in a league or independent tourneys. That builds interaction while waiting for matches, team spirit cheering for each other and buying uniforms to create loyalty and identity, and of course that valuable match experience

That can be a tall order, especially if one is not within 400 km of such a facility

tabletennis11.com · Apr 7, 2014

Anything with decent control and a bit of speed and durability. A beginner's bat is more of a vessel with which to go forward and develop skills. As long as it has some grip and is not too cheap. Agree with above, it's often better to assemble your own instead of going for premades. The Persson Powerallround from Donic is a good starter, anything in ALL+ to OFF- category would suit.

gen39 · Apr 7, 2014

Der_Echte said:
gen39, the newer player with coaching would learn just as well with Aurus, Sriver, H3, 729FX, (even if it is hard sponged, it is still controllable) or XP2008 on both or either side just as well as he would learn with the most expensive rubber on the market. I would lean towards control rubbers more than hard sponged fast as F rubbers at that stage. That is why my eternal recommendations of XP 2008 stand. Gazillions of possibilities. What is important here is that the new player does a few things to get into and STAY in the sport

- find a club where he is welcome

- find a club where there are similar level of players

- find a club with many activities for the newer player (group, r. Robin, social, whatever)

- find a club that has enough tables for anyone to either play a match or train. if there are 3 players waiting on each table to play, then training gets shot out of the water. When a new player plays only matches, he doesn't get a lot to grow on, gets discouraged very easy (hey, this isn't an easy sport, we all don't grow a few levels in 2-3 days) (this is why new players leave the sport. They cannot practice, there is no activities and special attention from manager or members, and they get murdered in matches, see there is no immediate hope, and give up)

- find a club where members and manager can discuss (maybe even sell at cost, or at least help them assemble the bat) bat options and how they affect the shots

- find a club where there is an actual competent coach with a separated area to facilitate multiball/singleball training

- find a club that goes out together to competition, whether that is in a league or independent tourneys. That builds interaction while waiting for matches, team spirit cheering for each other and buying uniforms to create loyalty and identity, and of course that valuable match experience

That can be a tall order, especially if one is not within 400 km of such a facility

You got it Der_Echte. Table tennis is a hard sport to learn and most beginners tend to give up!
So beginners must have the best beginner equipment possible.

Thanks!

NichoMarpaunk · Apr 7, 2014

i reccomend the butterfly primorac ex. It is fast but also has a lot of control. I started playing arround November 2013, first start out with an $5 premade bat i bought at the supermarket. 1 week later it was broken.

my dad bought me this Primorac EX like a week later at my 18th birthday, at that time i was still a real noob at the sport. i started improving while using this blade.

I would reccomend BTY Primorac EX for begginers. It is not too pricy (for BTY blades of course), got the speed, but has a lot of control. I paired it with RITC rubbers on both sides, recently changed to sriver FX.

But i've seen some "serious" youngsters using fast blades right from the beggining. I went to this club which is located just outside my city, just playing arround. I saw a 11 years old using timo boll zlc with donic acuda s2 for the rubbers.

Talked with his dad, he said he just played for 3 months, (and he is damn good).

I saw another kid, about 12, using joola carbon blade, with TE 05 on both sides. also another kid using gergely...

I think with the new equipments that are available now, one does not "Necceseraly" start out with slower "more control" equipments.

Rajah* · Apr 7, 2014

NichoMarpaunk said:
well, i've seen 12 years olds using gergely and timo boll zlc, with donic acuda S2 for the rubbers.

I think nowadays ppl starts out with faster blades.

Allow me to share my experience on this.. I started playing 7 yrs old.. im using sardius which by then the most fastest blade of bty. 20yrs using that blade. I learn to cope with the fast phase of the game, learning how to increase control with this type of phase, ball feel and able to respond quickly ..maybe thats the same learning they are giving their children.

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk

confused_zeus · Apr 8, 2014

I would start with a cheap but good quality equipment. An all wood blade rated from all to off - and dawei 2008 rubbers would do the job. My objective is for the beginner to make more effort in generating spin and speed to the ball. I believe he will come up with stronger stroke once he acquired the skills and use better equipment.

Der_Echte · Apr 8, 2014

gen39 said:
You got it Der_Echte. Table tennis is a hard sport to learn and most beginners tend to give up!
So beginners must have the best beginner equipment possible.

Thanks!

My main point is that yes, beginner's equipment must be capable of certain things and there are pretty much endless possibilities for exactly what that equipment can be. I wouldn't get too wrapped up in getting the best in the planet, because there are so many possible suitable combinations available.

The more important thing is the newer player getting into a situation to be able play the sport, learn, stay motivated, and grow. It takes several factors in the environment for this too happen and it is MUCH MORE IMPORTANT for the TT environment to be suitable for the player to stay in the sport and grow, much more so than worrying about the exact composition of the beginner's equipment. Getting the equipment to be suitable enough is too easy. It is not so easy to create and maintain a suitable environment to attract, retain and grow players. that doesn't happen by itself.

Der_Echte · Apr 8, 2014

For an example, at our USO rec center on the Army camp here... I can break out my expensive Nexy Arirang match bat all decked out with expensive FX-P and some other Tensor rubber and do these shots to win. Once a beginner gets away from scoop shots and starts swinging forward and adjusting with bat angle, he could learn using that bat no problem.

I can also assemble a bat that is ridiculous inexpensive and serves the same purposes. I went to Walmart and bought 3 each super cheepo bats (they all had OX SP rubber on them) for USD $10. I peeled off the SP rubber (it was surprisingly easy for a premade) and took some time to get rid of the residue on the blade for all three. I had some old XP 2008 laying around, and a few new sheets of XP 2008, 999, and New Era, all under $15 a sheet stuff. I bought some $2 grip over-tape. I already had a big roll of Tibhar edge tape.

Price per bat...

Bat 1 ... ($4 USD) Blade $3.50 XP 2008 used $0, XP 2008 $0 Grip tape and edge tape $.50

Bat 2... ($12 USD) Blade $3.50 XP 2008 used $0, XP 2008 New $8 Grip tape and edge tape $.50

Bat 3... ($27 USD) Blade $3.50 999 Nat new $15, XP 2008 New $8 Recyled thick TT Grip tape and edge tape $.50

At the end of the day, I had three bats ready for combat that could loop, push, chop, smash, kill spin (given a good loose hand) and do whatever you wanted to do. Granted, these bats would not be top in the world at any one shot, but they were all controllable and capable of doing every shot well enough to perform at a decent level, learn the sport, and grow. That waz THREE bats I made for $45 USD with what I had lying around and a trip to Wallmart for a recreational bat that was serviceable enough to make a training bat.

I sometimes play using these bats to show the rec center crowd that even an advanced player can make all the shots using this stuff successful enough. It won't play exactly like my expensive sponsored stuff, but it gets the job done OK even at my level.

Those concepts are more important for selecting beginner's equipment than agonizing over which blade or which rubber is "perfect".

Just my opinion and I am by far from the highest level player in this forum, not even 5 levels close to best player here. So take my words for whatever they are worth compared to words of experienced coaches (like FAB, Mike, Tony (who does coaching for a living) Dan and the other gazillion of talent we got on this forum) and make your own judgements on what you gotta do. (I do not mean talking to YOU personally, but to everyone in general) I have some oddball viewpoints that directly conflict with what pundits preach and sometimes my oddball views go to directly support what they say too. I just have different way to look at root cause effect and how to water everything down to get to basics.

Der_Echte · Apr 8, 2014

I can also see the value of a new player taking a lot of time and consideration to select what he wants to play with. Heck, it is the first bat this player will have and it is not an easy thing to decide considering one wants to evaluate everything first, then decide.

The first bat is usually a precious thing and the player views it with a lot of pride, it helps him or her stay motivated in the sport... so why not allow for some extravagance and time invested in the decision? Unless the new player is getting something way overkill fast, like Timo Boll Tri-Carbon with Calibra LT+...

Der_Echte · Apr 8, 2014

Having said all that, if you look at how the players in typical Korean clubs roll...

You see a LOT of players buying BRANDED stuff, and a TON of accessories. It is like personal competition warfare out there with what players do to "pimp" up their gear. They get the latest jerseys, new shoes, CUSTOM MADE HANDBAGS! Yes, one lady even commissioned a skilled seamstress in Dongdaemoon Seoul (an area where the top designers and makers of clothing work) to make a special shiny patent leather white and pink BTY logo handbag with name that is simply NOT on the market. When the other ladies of the club saw her march into the club holding that thing... they all got jealous quick, and upped their warfare game. End result, they all were trying to one-up each other out of pride and they were even more dedicated club players for it.

What is the best blade for beginners?

Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Member

Member

Member

Active Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Similar threads